Fans given chance to 'own the arch' through Twitter vote

23 February 2015

The Football League

The Football League is giving fans on Twitter around the world the chance to decide the colour of the Wembley arch as part of a unique first in the build up to Sunday’s Capital One Cup Final between Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur.

The innovative social media vote is the first time the iconic arch has been utilised in this way to let fans decide how the national stadium looks ahead of a major Cup Final. It will also be the first time it has ever been lit up in a football club’s colours.

The League is tracking the use of two designated hashtags on Twitter throughout this week - #ChelseaAtWembley and #SpursAtWembley. The hashtag that receives most use on the social network before 6pm on Saturday will be declared the winner and the arch will be lit up in that club’s colours the night before the Capital One Cup Final.

Updates on the #OwnTheArch vote standings will be provided via the @CapitalOne_Cup Twitter account throughout the week, with the arch itself lit up to show the latest standings from Thursday evening. As well as fans of the two Finalist clubs, supporters of other teams can get involved and vote as to who they think will win the trophy by tweeting the relevant hashtag.

Commenting on the activity, Drew Barrand, Marketing Director at The Football League, said: “The Football League is always looking at innovative ways to bring fans closer to the action and this vote really does allow fans to play a visible part in the build up to the Final.

“We are delighted to be able to be able to bring this unique first to Wembley and are looking forward to seeing what colour the arch will be”.

Alex Trickett, Head of Sport, Twitter UK, added: “Twitter is the place where people come to share in the biggest moments in the football calendar, in fact eight of the 10 most-Tweeted-about UK moments in 2014 were football-related.

“It will be incredible to see fans from the UK and around the world reaching for their devices to light up the Wembley arch this weekend.”

The #OwnTheArch Twitter vote is part of a range of activity taking place around the Final that will help to make it the most socially-engaged League Cup Final ever.

Supporters can submit motivational messages for the two teams via the Capital One Cup official Facebook page, with one message for each team being selected to be displayed in the tunnel as the last thing the teams see before they walk out at Wembley.

On matchday itself, supporters around the world not lucky enough to have a ticket for the match will be given the chance to have their photo featured on the giant screens as Wembley with fans encouraged to post a #FinalSelfie on Instagram and Twitter.

The Capital One Cup Final kicks off at 4pm on Sunday and is exclusively live on Sky Sports 1 with coverage from 2:30pm. Past League Cup winners Thierry Henry and Jamie Redknapp will be joining Glenn Hoddle in the studio to share their insight and knowledge with viewers.

Sunday’s Final will decide the winner of the first major domestic silverware of the season and is the first one of a record 13 trophy lifts across Europe that will be live on Sky Sports over the next 14 weeks.

To celebrate the Capital One Cup Final, Sky Sports will have a day of live Sky Sports programming from Wembley Stadium with ‘Sunday Supplement’ (Sky Sports 1, 8:00am) and ‘Goals on Sunday’ (Sky Sports 1, 9:30am) also enjoying the backdrop of the home of English football.

In addition, the match has attracted global interest and will be broadcast around the world, with a record number of over 200 territories showing the game this year.